Leaven Leaven

Volume 6 Issue 3 Poverty and Possessions Article 4

1-1-1998

Promise and Fulfillment: Believing the Promises of God Promise and Fulfillment: Believing the Promises of God

Victor Knowles

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Poverty and Possessions 113

Believing the Promises of God

Then he said, "Everything I told you while I was withyou comes to this: All the things written about me in theLaw of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have tobe fulfilled. " (Luke 24:44 The Message)

The word promise appears more than 100 times insacred scripture. One thousand promises are listed in Whatthe Bible Says about Praise and Promise. IThousands moreare listed in Samuel Clarke's two-hundred-year-old clas-sic, Precious Bible Promises. Some have suggested thatthere may be as many as 30,000 promises contained inScripture.

Herbert Lockyer, in his volume All the Promises ofthe Bible,' tells the story of Everett R. Storms, a school-teacher in Canada, who made a detailed study of prom-ises. According to Time,' Storms, of Kitchener, Ontario,Canada, reckoned the figure of 30,000 to be too high (sinceit is roughly the number of verses making up the Bible-31,]73). During his twenty-seventh reading of the Bible,a task which took him a year and a half, Storms came upwith a grand total of 8,810 promises (7,487 of them beingpromises made by God to humankind).

While we probably cannot determine the exact num-ber of promises contained in Scripture, we can agree withwhat King Solomon said during his temple dedicationprayer concerning the validity of the promises of God:"Praise be to the Lord .... Not one word has failed of allthe good promises he gave through his servant Moses" (1Kgs 8:56 NIV).

By VICTOR KNOWLES

I grew up believing in the promises of God. I remem-ber the songs we sang in church, songs that includedphrases like these: Be not dismayed what' er betide, Godwill take care of you. How firm afoundation ... is laid foryour faith in His excellent word! Standing on the prom-ises I cannotfall. Sweet are the promises; kind is the word.There shall be showers of blessing; this is the promise oflove. Every promise in the Book is mine; every chapter,every verse, every line. I have since learned, of course,that every promise in the Book is not mine (some wereexclusively for Israel, for example). But enough are minethat I can never even realize them all in my short lifetime,so I still sing these songs with great enthusiasm, grateful-ness, and praise.

I was blessed to be raised in a godly home. My fatherwas a minister of the gospel (earlier this year marked hissixtieth year of ministry), and my mother was a wonder-ful Christian woman. Every evening we had a time offam-ily devotions. This included not only Bible readings andprayer but also the study of works like Donald G. Hunt'sThe Unfolded Plan of God. For example, I learned howfaithful God had been in fulfilling his promises toAbraham-promises involving land, a great nation, andMessiah himself(Gen 12:1-3). Because of that panoramicstudy, where God proved himself over and over again tobe true to his word, I have never doubted the promises ofGod.

The promises of God are unfailing (Josh 23:14; I Kgs8:56). Joshua and Solomon agree that not one word of

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The genius of the gospelis that everyone can

share in the promise-in Christ.

God's promises ever failed to come true. The promisesare upheld by God's oath (Heb 6: 12-19). It is impossiblefor God to lie. The promises originally belonged to Israel(Rom 9:4). These would include the promises of land (Acts7:5), Davidic kingship (2 Chron 6:10-16), Messiah (Acts13:23), and a new heart (Jer 31 :33). The promises of Godwere alwaysfulfilled on schedule (Gal 4:4). God's timingis always perfect! It is crucial to note that the promises arecentered in Christ (2 Cor 1:20). Jesus Christ is the themeof the law, the prophets, the Psalms-indeed, all of Scrip-ture! The promises were also confinned by Christ (Rom15:8). "Written of me" is his own interpretation and ap-plication. God's wonderful promises are obtained throughpatience (Heb 6:12,15). Abraham had to wait many longyears before realizing the fulfillment. The promises arealso kept by faith (Rom 4:20, 21). Abraham "against hopebelieved in hope," absolutely refusing to stagger at thepromise of God. Finally, God's promises are described asexceeding great and precious (2 Pet 1:4). Dwight L.Moody said, "Let a man feed for a month on the promisesof God, and he will not talk about how poor he is." Weshould be so wise as to start putting a portion of the prom-ises on our platters!

With promise comes privilege. H. L. Wilmington lists40 promises to the believer." For example, the believer ispromised forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:39): "For the prom-ise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afaroff, as many as the Lord our God will call."? The PrayerBook (1662) of the Church of England says, "Restore thouthem that are penitent; according to thy promises declaredunto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord." The believer isalso promised the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). Jesus calledhim "the Promise of My Father." The forgiveness of sinsand the Holy Spirit are linked in Acts 2:38. God takesaway our unholy sins and fills us with the Holy Spirit.Etemallife is promised to believers in Christ (John 3: 15,16) "before time began" by a God who cannot lie (Tit1:2). Jesus Christ promised believers an abundant life(John 10:10). His precious promises and divine power have-given to us "all things that pertain to life and godliness"(2 Pet 1:3,4). Those who show confidence in Christ are

assured of answers toprayer (1 John 5: 14)-ifwe pray inaccordance with his will. A truly grand promise is that ofthe kingdom (Jas 2:5). God has promised his glorious king-dom to the poor of this world who are rich in faith. Andwhat is a kingdom without a crown? The crown of life ispromised to the believer who loves God and endures tri-als (Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10). Another promise to the believeris that of new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet 3: 13). It willbe nothing like we have ever seen or dreamed of here,because only righteousness will dwell in this new "Prom-ised Land." Finally, at least for this brief synopsis, Godpromises the believer a home in heaven (John 14:1-3).We have Christ's own word on it: "If that weren't so, wouldI have told you that I'm on my way to get a room readyfor you?" (John 14:2 The Message).

Promise and Fulfillment in ScriptureThe Hebrew language has no word that corresponds

to promise. In the Old Testament scriptures we find wordslike word, speak, and say that are used instead. In otherwords, God's word itself is the same as a promise.Friedreich Wilhelm Krummacher said, "God's promisesare, virtually, obligations that he imposes upon himself."

In the New Covenant scriptures, promise (epangelia)is used in the sense of God's design to visit his peopleredemptively in the person of his son Jesus Christ. W. E.Vine says that a promise is "a gift graciously bestowed,not a pledge secured by negotiation."

God's promise of Messiah is first seen in the proto-evangelium, given to Eve (Gen 3: 15), and is repeated toAbram (Gen 12:2,3), David (2 Sam 7:12,13,28), and theprophets (lsa 2:2-5; 4:2; 55:5). Alfred Edersheim counted75 Messianic prophecies in the Pentateuch, 243 in theProphets, and 138 in the Writings. James E. Smith stream-lines 73 "Messianic foregleams," beginning with Gen 3:15and ending with Mal 4:5, in his book What the Bible Saysabout the Promised Messiah:"

When we come to the New Testament writings, allthe promises are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. "For nomatter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes'in Christ" (2 Cor 1:20 NIV). The genius of the gospel isthat everyone can share in the promise-in Christ. "Thismystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirstogether with Israel, members together of one body, andsharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (Eph 3:6NIV).

Perhaps only a man like Luke could appreciate thefact that both Jew and Gentile, members of the body ofChrist, could share together in the promises in Christ. Luke,as Eugene H. Peterson points out, was "the only Gentile

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in an all-Jewish cast of New Testament writers." He callshim a "vigorous champion of the outsider" because hewas "an outsider himself." Luke's account of the gospelof Christ, according to Peterson, "shows how Jesus in-cludes those who were typically treated as outsiders bythe religious establishment of the day: women, commonlaborers (sheep herders), the racially different (Samari-tans), the poor." Peterson adds, "As Luke tells the story,all of us who have found ourselves on the outside lookingin on life with no hope of gaining entrance (and who of ushasn't felt it?) now find the doors wide open, found andwelcomed by God in Jesus."?

Luke's exciting account of the birth of Messiah con-tains many promises: some made by angels, some madeby the Holy Spirit, some made by human beings; all, ulti-mately, given by God; all wonderfully fulfilled in the per-son of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Promise and Fulfillment in the Birth Narrative ofLuke's Gospel

The first series of promises were made by an angel ofthe Lord, later identified as Gabriel (Luke 1:19), to a de-vout but childless couple-a priest named Zechariah andhis wife, Elizabeth--concerning the birth of their son, Johnthe Baptist (1:5-25). In response to Zechariah's prayer(1: 13), Gabriel made a sevenfold promise: Elizabeth,though barren and advanced in years (1 :7), would have ason, and they were to name him John (1: 13); the birth ofthe boy would be a cause of great joy, not only to his par-ents, but to others as well (1: 14); John (eventually knownas John the Baptist) would be "great in the sight of theLord" (1: 15a); the child would be "filled with the HolySpirit even from birth" (1: 15c NIV); he would bring manyin Israel back to God (1: 16); and, most important of all,he would become the forerunner of Messiah. "And he willgo before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, toturn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the dis-obedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make readya people prepared for the Lord" (1: 17 NIV).

In spi te of these wonderful promises, Zechariah couldnot bring himself to believe Gabriel. He remained muteuntil John was born, as a sort of punishment for his unbe-lief. Gabriel told him, "Every word I've spoken to youwill come true on time-Gad's time" (1 :20 The Message).And in "the fullness of time" all the promises concerningJohn were fulfilled, for Elizabeth gave birth to a son (1:57);his birth brought joy to many (l :58); even before birthJohn himself jumped for joy in his mother's womb whenshe was filled with the Holy Spirit (1 :40-44); Jesus latertestified that "among those born of women there is no one

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greater than John" (7:28 NIV); many were brought backto God by his powerful preaching (Matt 3:5, 6); and heindeed went before the Lord in the spirit and power ofElijah (Matt 3:1-12).

The exact fulfillment of these precise promises shouldmake believers of us all. If the promises concerning Johnare true, then the promises regarding Jesus are going to betrue-and the many promises that God makes to believ-ers, including the greatest promise of all, eternal life (1Tim 4:8), are going to be fulfilled.

Gabriel's mission next took him to Nazareth, wherehe appeared to Mary, a young virgin who was engaged toa man named Joseph, a descendant of David. After pro-nouncing a blessing on her (1 :28), Gabriel made a seriesof astonishing promises:

1. You will be with child (1:31a)2. You will give birth to a son (l:31b)3. You will call His name "Jesus" (1:31c)4. He will achieve greatness (1:32a)5. He will be called "the Son of the Highest" (1:32b)6. He will be given David's throne (1:32c)7. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever

(1:33a)8. His kingdom will never end (1 :33b)

Mary, understandably, was overwhelmed by this bar-rage of incredible news. She interrupted the angel, ask-ing, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (1 :34).Gabriel explained:

9. The Holy Spirit will come upon you (1:35a)10. The power of the Highest will overshadow you

(1:35b)11. The Holy One who is to be born will be called the

Son of God (l:35c)

Gabriel concluded his message to Mary: "For withGod nothing will be impossible" (1:37). And to her ever-lasting credit, Mary responded in faith, acceptance, andsubmission. "Behold the maidservant of the Lord; let it beto me according to your word" (1:38).

Just as the angel had said, Mary, a virgin, found her-self with child (2:5). Matthew's Gospel clearly states thatthis was before Joseph and Mary "came together" as hus-band and wife and that Mary was "found with child of theHoly Spirit" (Matt 1:18). Joseph was assured by an angelthat "that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit"(Matt 1:20). Matthew relates that the virgin birth of Jesuswas to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: "Behold, the virginshall be with child, and bear a Son ... " (Matt 1:23; Isa7: 14). If Mary and Joseph did not have a problem with the

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virgin birth, and if Matthew and Luke did not have a prob-lem with reporting the virgin birth, why should you and Ihave a problem with believing this particular promise ofGod?

"But when the fullness of the time had come, Godsent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law"(Gal 4:4). And Luke records that Mary did have a son(Luke 2:7), "her firstborn son" (so much for the doctrineof the "perpetual virginity" of Mary). The Bethlehem babewas called "Jesus" ("Jehovah is salvation"). Matthew givesus the meaning: "He will save His people from their sins"(Matt 1:21).

In Christ we are one-one person, one new person,one body, one blended family.

Jesus Christ achieved a greatness that no man has everachieved. Napoleon said, "I know men; and I tell you thatJesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every otherperson in the world there is no possible term of compari-son." Simply put, God highly exalted Jesus and gave him"the name which is above every name, that at the name ofJesus every knee should bow ... and that every tongueshould confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory ofGod the Father" (PhiI2:9-11). Even the evil spirits, those"under the earth" (Phil 2:10), confessed that Jesus wasthe "Son of the Most High God" (Mark 5:7).

Christ has been given David's throne (Acts 2:29-35).Today he is reigning over the house of Jacob (Gal 3:7-9,26-29), and his kingdom continues-just as Daniel (Dan2:44) and Isaiah (Isa 9:7) said: "no end ... from that timeforward, even forever." We will have more to say aboutthe king and his kingdom later in this study.

The final series of promises we'll look at in Luke'saccount of the birth narrative are those made by the angel(s)who proclaimed the birth of Messiah to the shepherds nearBethlehem (Luke 2:8). Appearing in the Shekinah (glory)of God, the angel announced the greatest news the worldhas ever heard! "Fear not: for, behold I bring you goodtidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For untoyou is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, whichis Christ the Lord" (2: 10, 11 KJV). After telling the shep-herds where they could find the Christ child, the angelwasjoined by a multitude of angels who burst forth intopraise:

Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace,good will toward men. (2:14 KJV)

The angelic promise was one that banished fear,brought good news, produced great joy, included allpeople-yet was distinctly personal ("unto you"). Onemust remember that the "you" refers to shepherds, a partof society disdained by most. The promise was the imme-diate culmination of centuries of hope ("this day"), ful-filled in the city of David (Bethlehem, "house of bread").The promise described Jesus in three beautiful words:Saviour; Christ, Lord. Josephus would later write, "Nowthere was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawfulto call him a man .... He was the Christ."

Application of the Promise "To All People"The theme of this 55th Annual Bible Lectures is "An-

other King, Another Kingdom." Jesus was a king of an-other sort. His kingdom was a kingdom of another kind.Jesus Christ is an exclusive king. His kingdom is an inclu-sive kingdom.

Charles Lamb said, "If Shakespeare should come intothis room, we would all rise; but if Jesus Christ shouldcome in, we would all kneel." Why? Because "eternally,Christ is King!" Herod feared him because he had heardthat Jesus was "born King of the Jews" (Matt 2:2). Thatcould only mean political displacement for Herod. Pilate'ssoldiers dressed Jesus in a scarlet robe, put a crown ofthorns on his head, and bowed the knee before him, jeer-ing, "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matt 27:27-29). Pilate him-self wrote the inscription for the cross, "JESUS OFNAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS" (John 19:19).He was crucified as King of the Jews, but he was raisedKing of All! In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John sawJesus astride a white horse. He was clothed in a robe dippedin blood, his eyes were like flames of fire, on his headwere many crowns, and on his robe and on his thigh waswritten a name: "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OFLORDS" (Rev 19:11-16). With Edward Perronet I sing,

All hail the power of Jesus' name!Let angels prostrate fall!Bring forth the royal diadem,And crown Him Lord of all.

In contrast to Jesus' being an exclusive king, his king-dom is portrayed in Scripture as being inclusive. That isnot to say that everyone is automatically included in hiskingdom, regardless of spiritual choices or condition. On

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the contrary, Christ said that individuals had to be spiritu-ally reborn before they could enter his kingdom (John 3:1-8). He said that conversion (becoming like a little child)was necessary for entering his kingdom (Matt 18:1-5).

But his kingdom was for all-not just the Jews. Some-one once said, "How odd of God to choose the Jews!"The Jews did not feel that it was odd, of course, for theybelieved the scriptures that said that they were the chosenpeople of God. After all, to them belonged the adoption,the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the serviceof God, and the promises (Rom 9:4). What they foundamazing was the fact that God would include someonebesides themselves in his eternal scheme of redemption!Paul asked them to consider an astounding question: Whatif God wanted to have mercy, not on the Jews only, butalso on the Gentiles? He then quoted Hosea to show thatthis "outlandish" thought was really a promise of God: "Iwill call them My people, who were not My people, Andher beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come topass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are notMy people,' There they will be called sons of the livingGael' (Rom 9:25, 26). How could God do this? Why wouldGod do this? "For there is no distinction between Jew andGreek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who callupon him. For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lordshall be saved" (Rom 10:12, 13). Israel stumbled at thisteaching, but only that the Gentiles could be included (Rom11:11). Their rejection was not total, nor was it final orfatal. "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of theworld, what will their acceptance be but life from thedead?" (Rom 11:15 NIV).

The promise of Jesus "is meant for everybody, world-wide" (Luke 2:10 The Message). Jesus took Jew and Gen-tile and "made the two one" (Eph 2: 14 NIV). He did notknock their heads together; he knit their souls together(CoI2:2). By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free (1 Cor 12:13). Allare sons of God who have believed in Jesus and have beenbaptized into Christ. In Christ "there is neither Jew norGreek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all onein Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:26, 27 NIV).

Cicero said, "All men are divided into two classes-Greek and barbarian." But in Christ all men are one! InChrist we are one=-one person, one new person, one body,one blended family. In Christ all distinctions anddistinctives disappear, whether historical, political, intel-lectual, spiritual, cultural, sociological, racial, national,economical, or even sexual!

There is one body (Eph 4:4). As one body-the bodyof Christ-our hearts beat as one, our spirits soar as one,our souls feel as one, our minds think as one, our mouths

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speak as one, our eyes see as one, our ears hear as one,our hands work as one, our feet move as one-for we arethe body of Christ and we take our marching orders fromthe head of the body, even Christ! Not every member ofthe body has the same function, but every member hasequal concern for the other. Not every member of a sym-phony orchestra plays the same instrument or the samenotes. Not every member of a baseball team plays the sameposition or has the same role. In the body of Christ, we donot all do the same thing, but we all can do some thing!

The body of Christ, like the human body, is fearfullyand wonderfully made. It is fashioned by the hand of God.He may add to the body whomever he pleases. Thosewhom he adds I must accept and love. It makes no differ-ence if they are African American, Euro American, AsianAmerican, Native American, non-American or un-Ameri-can. It matters not a whit if they are rich or poor, educatedor uneducated, whole or sick, cultured or uncultured, ma-ture or immature. I care not what Christian college theyattended (if any), what version of the Bible they use, whatstyle of music they prefer, what convention or lectureshipthey attend, or what magazine they read.

You don't have to be my twin to be my brother. Yousimply have to be "in Christ." Christ has made us one. InChrist we are one. If I am in Christ, I cannot be anywhereelse. In Christ I am complete (Col 2: 10), I amuncondemned (Rom 8:1), I ama new creation (2 Cor 5: 17).I am fit and ready for service. I have received the prom-ises. I am standing on the promises. I am ready to pro-claim the promises to everybody in the whole wide world!

For the promise is to you and to your children, andto all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our Godwill call. (Acts 2:39)

VICTOR KNOWLES, president, Peace on Earth Ministries,Joplin, Missouri, is editor of One Body.

NotesIjames Van Buren and Don DeWelt, What the Bible Says

about Praise and Promise (Joplin, Mo.: College Press, 1980).2Herbert Lockyer, All the Promises of the Bible (Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 1962)."Iime, December 4, 1956.4H. L. Wilmington, Wilmington s Book of Lists (Wheaton,

III.: Tyndale, 1988).5Scripture quotations not otherwise noted are from the New

King James Version (NKJV).6James E. Smith, What the Bible Says about the Promised

Messiah (Joplin, Mo.: College Press, 1984)."Eugene H. Peterson, introduction to the Gospel of Luke,

in The Message (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1995).

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